Abuse Case Leads Cops Downstate

Investigators flew to Downstate Belleville Thursday to interview a possible second victim of molestation suspect Danny Bates, a mental health counselor from Cary charged with sexually abusing a 12-year-old boy.

Cary Police Chief Robert Levitt said an official with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services accompanied a police detective sent to question the possible victim.

Police would not discuss how that person was found nor would they provide further details on the latest development.

Investigators began sifting through the details of Bates' life in a search for other possible victims following his arrest on molestation charges July 16.

Bates, 36, had worked as a mental health counselor in the adolescent psychiatric care unit of Barrington's Good Shepherd Hospital since 1987, according to detectives.

Police were reviewing Bates' professional conduct and his volunteer activities with at least four child service associations.

This week, investigators discovered Bates had ties to a DuPage County youth organization. Bates apparently began his volunteer work with children while he was an undergraduate at a now-defunct college, according to Cary police detectives.

Big Brothers/Big Sisters officials in Kane and Lake Counties confirmed Bates' six-year involvement with the organization. Bates mentored two young boys in his role as a Big Brothers/Big Sisters volunteer.

No abuse allegations have been raised by either of the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program participants.

A 4-year-long pairing with a Kane County youth ended with Bates' arrest. Organization directors reported a similar match lasted from 1990 to 1991, when Bates and a Lake County boy ended their relationship by mutual consent.

Bates has been charged with criminal sexual assault and two counts of criminal sexual abuse. He was accused of molesting the 12-year-old Cary boy on two occasions.

He also may face further felony charges, including predatory sexual assault, when the case is presented to a grand jury in August, prosecutors said.

The 12-year-old boy told authorities he was blindfolded, restrained with ropes and rubbed with lotions and oils on May 2 and July 11.

Levitt said the boy made several unsupervised visits to Bates' home during the past two years. There may have been instances of "inappropriate physical contact" before the alleged May 2 incident, according to Levitt.

The boy reportedly told his mother of the alleged abuse after July 11.

DCFS investigators contacted police July 16 when a therapist counseling the boy reported the alleged sexual abuse to state authorities.